Maple Syrup and Birthday Cupcakes

This past weekend a good friend from high school was visiting Boston. K had a conference here last week and stayed to hang out this weekend. On top of hanging out with friends, Butler made it to the Final Four! K went to Butler and is the president of his local alumni club!


On Saturday we decided to partake in some local fun by heading up to New Hampshire to go to a maple house where they boil maple syrup. We had beautiful weather on Saturday. It was a bit chilly but sunny and not a cloud in the sky. After arriving at the Grant Family Maple House, we had some food and got in line to learn all about how maple syrup is made.


What we learned is that the sap from the trees has about 2-3% sugar in it straight from the tree. At that percentage, it would take 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup!! So they first condense the sap until it reaches about 8% sugar. The sap is then boiled to evaporate off the water.


Once the temperature reads 7 degrees above the boiling point of water, you have syrup! The guy in the maple house even explained how they use a baraometer on the wall to get the barometric pressure so they know the exact boiling temperature of water for that given day. It was all very scientific and extremely interesting.


The small bottles of maple syrup were a sample from each batch they had made at the maple house this season. The guy explained that as the season goes on, the syrup tends to get darker due to the change in the amount of sugar in the sap.


Of course, we had to get some maple products while we were there. Obviously, maple syrup. We also got some maple candies, some maple sugar, and some maple pepper. Can’t wait to find creative ways to use the sugar and pepper. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know!


Also, since K’s birthday was last week, I made him some cupcakes to celebrate. I went with my go-to chocolate cupcake recipe. I love that you can whip these up by dirtying only one bowl and using a whisk! I dipped them in some ganache and topped with festive sprinkles. Aren’t they pretty?

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14 Responses to “Samoas Bars”

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    thecookingnurse — May 7, 2009 at 1:52 pm

    Those look so good, now we don’t have to wait unitl the GS are selling there cookies again 🙂

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    bakinandeggs — May 7, 2009 at 1:59 pm

    Yum! They look delicious and your pictures are great.

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    Erin — May 7, 2009 at 3:40 pm

    I made these a while back and loved them too! It’s nice to be able to make your own any time you want!

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    Memória — May 7, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    Beautiful photos. You did an awesome job on these.

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    bcallegra — May 7, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    I’m so glad you made these! I noticed these on another blog and had them on my “to make” list. Your pictures may motivate me to make them this weekend!

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    Ingrid — May 7, 2009 at 8:15 pm

    They look terrific and I’ve never been one to eat girl scout cookies.
    ~ingrid

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    Joelen — May 8, 2009 at 1:53 am

    Now these look amazing!! Great job!

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    finsmom — May 8, 2009 at 3:33 am

    Ive been wanting to make these – they look crazy tasty!
    Thanks for sharing! Yum!

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    Mermaid Sweets — May 8, 2009 at 6:06 am

    Great job – my hubby’s hoping I will give these a go.

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    Stephanie Wagner — May 8, 2009 at 11:05 am

    Samoas are my favorite too! I’m totally making some this weekend!!

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    Colleen — May 8, 2009 at 5:46 pm

    What a great way to enjoy Samoas when there are no cookies left!

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    bakersbakery — May 11, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    Yum!

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    Hanaâ — May 12, 2009 at 5:05 pm

    These look great!! Although I don’t eat coconut, I’ll have to make them for my hubby and coworkers sometime.

    Not sure if you got my email last weekend but I was wondering if you know of any must-visit bakeries or eateries in Boston. We will be vacationing in Boston in a couple weeks. Thanks!!!

    Hanaa

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    Hanaâ — May 16, 2009 at 10:01 pm

    Thanks for emailing me, Jen. I emailed you back to the address you gave me. Hopefully that worked :o)

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